Preparing For Your Career
I just finished a day-long session at Boston College talking to students in the Liberal Arts school about career choices. They were mostly Sophomores who had no idea of what they wanted to do with their careers, so the school asked some alumni to come back and share our stories and our advice. Here are a few things we heard from the students and a summary of the alumni responses, including mine.
“It seems like everyone else knows what they want to do with their life, and I still have no idea. Am I way behind?” It’s okay to not know what you want to do with your career, especially when you are still in school. I think too much emphasis is placed on figuring out “what I want to do with my life”. If you find a passion at a young age, great. If not, keep looking! I got into consulting because I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do after graduating and figured it would expose me to a lot of companies and potential roles. Since then, I’ve changed careers a few times, and may change again. I think it is more important to find a job that you enjoy, that feeds your passion, and that you can immerse yourself in, than it is to lock in on a “career”. Find a job you enjoy going to, and the “career” will take care of itself. Having said that, it is never too early to think about what you want your first job to be, and make sure you are taking the courses and getting the experience to land that job; if you want to be a consultant right out of school, do some research to find out what they are looking for and make sure you work on those things. If you want to work in branding, find a few employers you might like to work for, and reach out to people there to learn as much as you can about the roles, their college recruiting programs (if any), and figure out how you can put your best foot forward.
“I’m a History major with a Psychology minor – is anyone going to hire me?” Unless you want to be a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant (jobs that require very specific educational work), a Liberal Arts degree leaves a lot of doors open to you. Most employers are looking for leadership, critical-thinking/problem-solving skills, and personality; they are not looking for specific experience. They assume that coming directly out of school you won’t know much, so they are hiring for aptitude and work-ethic, not experience.
“How should I prepare for an interview?” Again, most employers are going to be looking for examples of where you showed leadership, of challenges you’ve overcome or problems you’ve solved, and that you seem to really want the job. Think of examples of when you’ve stepped into a leadership role no matter how minor, and what you learned from it. Think of examples of problems you’ve faced and how you overcame them. They will want to hear the story so they can assess whether you have the raw skills and the demeaner to make a difference in their company. You also need to do some research into the company, and the role you are applying for. No one wants to hire someone who doesn’t care enough about the job to do a little research in advance and be able to articulate why they are interested in it and why they think they’d be a good fit. If you can’t answer these questions, you will come across as either lazy or disinterested. Lastly, be comfortable and be yourself. Assuming you have the aptitude for success, they are also trying to get a sense of whether they will simply enjoy working with you every day.
“What classes should I take to make myself more attractive to employers?” Two answers here:
Business classes. You can’t go wrong with an accounting class, a finance class, a management class, etc. The knowledge and skills you learn will be applicable to any job you get, and you’ll eventually need to understand this stuff anyway.
Classes that are interesting to you. Even if they are off-major or seem unusual, college is a time to explore different ideas and passions. If a class seems exciting, drop in to listen to a lecture or a discussion, even if you haven’t signed up for the class. Get exposed to as many ideas and opportunities as you can, so you don’t have to flail around as much after graduation to find work that really engages you.
Be the hardest working person you know. There are few things that are more important or more impressive in a new hire than their willingness to “roll up their sleeves” and do whatever it takes to get the job done. Work smart, but work hard as well; you’ll get more/better work done than your peers. People notice that stuff. Be known for putting in the extra effort and the extra hours to be excellent at what you do.